‘Comeback is possible’ – Simeone

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone believes comeback is possible from a 3-0 defeat in Champions League Semifinal first leg against Real Madrid. He says he has been in conversation with his players and confronts them as he believes it is possible to overturn the result and enter the finals of the most coveted tournament.

“I don’t think it’s impossible,” he said in a post-match interview with Mega.

“We have the return leg and I say to my players and to the fans that yes, we can.”

Analysing the match, he was insistent that his team had played well in the first half, while admitting that their rivals overran them towards the end.

“The first half was even and we could have gone in front at the one-versus-one between [Kevin] Gameiro and Keylor [Navas],” he pointed out.

“I liked the way the team played in the first half, but later they knew how to attack the spaces well.”

He was also asked about Cristiano Ronaldo’s first goal and whether or not the forward interfered with play enough to be offside, to which he said that all that matters is what appears on the scoreboard.

“I saw it as a goal,” he said, dodging the question.

“When it enters in the goalframe and the referee points to the middle it is a goal.”